Parthenon West Pediment - Nashville, TN
Posted by: 
Raven
N 36° 08.971 W 086° 48.822
16S E 516759 N 4000548
A 110ft by 10ft (and 4ft deep) bas-relief depiction of a combat between Athena and Poseidon adorns the West pediment of the Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN.
Waymark Code: WMZ483
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2018
Views: 2
The West pediment of the Parthenon in Nashville is a large-than-life sculpture of a famous battle between Athena and Poseidon, who are contesting for the honor being the patron god of Athens. The artwork, sculpted by Belle Kinney and Leopold Scholz between 1920 and 1930, is listed in the
Smithsonian Art Inventory as a replica of the original Greek bas-relief which used to decorate the original Parthenon at the Acropolis (see
here for a diagram of what the original very likely looked like).
As for its depiction: "[it represents] the contest between Athena and Poseidon during their competition for the honor of becoming the city’s patron. Athena and Poseidon appear at the center of the composition, diverging from one another in strong diagonal forms with the goddess holding the olive tree and the god of the sea raising his trident to strike the earth. At their flanks they are framed by two active groups of horses pulling chariots, while a crowd of legendary personalities from Athenian mythology fills the space out to the acute corners of the pediment. [...] The overall character of the pediment sculptures was very energetic as the figures were placed in a dense arrangement with many overlapping bodies and limbs. As a result, the negative space between the figures acquired a complexity analogous to the one found on the statues themselves, while glimpses of the flat background, which would allow the eyes to rest, were minimized. The space beyond the building was pulled into the pediment composition cleverly as the figures often reached out beyond the imaginary plane of the temple’s façade."
Source:
Ancient-Greece.org